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“To bear the mark of another is a sign of unwavering devotion.”

Author Unknown

E verett takes my face between his hands, holding me as if I’ll shatter, belying what the world says he is and every single lie I’ve been told about the Unseelie fae.

“You are certain about choosing me?” He searches my face for any hint of hesitation, but he will find none.

“Forever,” I vow even as I cling to his broad shoulders, holding on so I don’t faint away. Reminding myself that every moment of this perfect dream is real.

His fingers slipping into my hair. Real .

His head lowering until we’re only a breath apart. Real.

I lift to my toes and anchor my lips against his. My fingers dig into the muscles of his shoulders, demanding he take whatever he wants. Ever angles my head, giving himself better access for the slow, thorough assault of his sandpaper tongue against mine, plundering like a pirate, conquering like a king.

I press my body into his, until every part of me feels the sensual heat radiating from his bare torso. His taut stomach. His sinewy thighs. His groan of pleasure vibrates against my mouth as he shifts his lips to the side, dragging them down the column of my neck. Licking and nipping at my pulse. The wing of my collarbone. The hollow at my throat.

This man and his persistent mouth steal every thought from my head, the strength from my body, and the breath from my lungs.

Ever urges me toward the bed, stopping when my legs collide with the mattress.

His thumb drags along my bottom lip as he stares down at my mouth. “Do you remember all the things you asked for that night at the lake?”

My throat tightens as I nod, desire pooling low in my belly.

He eases forward to whisper against the shell of my ear. “Do you still want them?”

Yes. Yes . “Yes.”

With his hands bracketing my hips, he drops to his knees in front of me. “You wore this dress the first day I saw you.” He tugs on the end of the ribbon holding my corset closed, loosening the knot. “You looked like a ray of sunlight.”

And he looked like an ancient god of war, striking a handsome yet fearsome figure atop his onyx steed.

My corset falls to the floor. He holds out a hand, helping me step out of the silk before folding the garment atop the table. He handles the skirt with the same care, until it, too, is folded and forgotten.

Calloused hands skate up my thighs, bracing around my waist as Ever wordlessly turns me so that his back is to the bed. The mattress whines when he sinks onto the edge, pulling me between his spread knees. Everything about him makes me feel delicate and dainty—and those are two words I would have never used to describe myself before.

His fingers trail along the edge of my shift’s lace sleeves, slowly peeling them down my shoulders, chasing every inch of my skin with his lips. “These have driven me mad since the night you first came across the bridge. Every time they fell, you insisted on fixing them. You cannot imagine how badly I wanted to tell you to leave them be.”

“You should have.” I never would’ve covered my shoulders again.

His soft hum vibrates against my neck; his tongue darts out, dragging along my collarbone.

Heat spreads like liquid fire between my thighs.

My shift falls to the floor in an ivory puddle, and I stand before him with nothing more than a scrap of lace between my thighs.

His pupils swallow his dark irises, his chest rising and falling as if he’s been running too fast for too long. He traces my ribs and along the swell of my hips, all the way to the mottled skin of my thighs.

“When I look at you,” he begins, taking my hand and pressing my palm to his chest, “I am overwhelmed.”

To think that I could overwhelm someone like him is ridiculous, yet I hear the sincerity in his voice and feel the way his pulse skips. He drags the backs of his knuckles down my neck, between my breasts, all the way to the line of lace. “You are so soft. So delicate. Every part of you is beautiful.” His head lifts, dark eyes meeting mine. “May I touch you? I promise to be gentle.”

I nod. Waiting. Anticipating. Desire licking at my skin as he toys with the tips of my breasts, skimming and stroking with featherlight fingertips. Gripping and kneading. Groaning as he finds me with his tongue. Teasing. Tasting.

I melt deeper into his embrace, relaxing against him as his lazy fingers make their way to the juncture of my thighs. “Has anyone ever touched you here?” he rasps.

“No one but me,” I confess as he delves deeper, massaging. Exploring. Tantalizing.

His teeth drag against where my neck meets my shoulder. I think of those women in the village. Of what he told me about Unseelie mating bonds.

I tip up my chin, giving him more of me. All of me. A willing sacrifice. “Mark me as yours.”

He draws back, his nostrils flaring and eyes searching. “Kerris…”

“Please, Ever. I want to belong to you in every way.”

Still, he hesitates. “You are certain?”

“Yes.”

He kisses where my neck meets my shoulder. Softly. Softly.

When he finally clamps down, the mix of pleasure and pain is so heady, my heart feels as if it’s about to burst through my chest. “Again.” A demand. A plea.

Ever moves lower, to my breast, nipping and then soothing the sharp ache with a devious flick of his tongue. My head falls back as my hips surge toward his, searching for friction. As if he knows exactly what I need, Ever spins us around and urges me onto the mattress.

The soft quilt smells like it’s been dried in the fresh air.

Kneeling between my thighs, he tugs on my knickers. I lift my hips, allowing him to remove my final layer, baring myself to whatever wickedness he has in store. His teeth graze my upper thigh. His tongue swirls over my hip, dangerously close to where I ache. And when his mouth finds that most perfect spot, my spine arches off the mattress.

His grip on my thighs tightens as he buries his tongue deep inside me. A low, rumbling groan of male satisfaction lances through my core. “You taste as sweet as the biscuits you bake.”

The way he flicks his tongue might just be the death of me. It certainly isn’t making coherent thoughts very easy. “I thought you…didn’t like…sweet things.”

“I found an exception.”

The delicious purr of his voice. Each heady stroke of that sandpaper tongue.

It’s too much.

It’s not enough.

I lose my hands in his hair as he loses himself in me until I cannot keep it together any longer. A dam about to break.

And when it does, his name falls from my lips in a desperate plea.

Ever holds me tightly against the onslaught of pleasure ripping through my body, his growl of pleasure rumbling over pliant flesh.

The most violent of my shudders subsides, but the aching returns the moment I catch a glimpse of Ever’s tousled hair as he grins from between my thighs.

I cannot let this stand. No, this will not do.

“Trousers off. Now.” I don’t want to be the only one to have lost control this day.

Sharp teeth flash with his widening grin. “You are an impatient Seelie.”

“You’ve kept me waiting long enough.” I’m done. Finished. Through. I want to belong to this man in every possible way.

Ever rises to his full height, his disheveled hair sweeping along the curved wood of the ceiling as he slips the leather strap of his belt through the buckle. When he unfastens the buttons on his trousers and the rough wool falls to the ground, my jaw hinges wide.

He is long and thick, and the way he grips himself, as if wielding another weapon, reignites the fire in my deepest recesses. Stroking his length, he stares down at me, his face drenched in shadows and lust.

He pauses for the briefest of moments. “You are certain? There is no going back.”

There was no going back the moment I realized he was the one who gave me that flower. Our worlds may have been cleaved in two, but we will find a way to weave them together. Create a world of our own where no one else exists.

“Yes.”

The veins in his forearm pop where he holds himself, a pearl of wetness glistening at the tip of his manhood. “It will hurt.”

“I can take it.”

The mattress dips beneath his weight. With one hand braced by my head, Ever drags his thick crown through my folds, coating himself in my desire before notching himself at my entrance. He eases inside, the muscles of his stomach tensing as he disappears, inch by glorious inch. My body tightens around his and my legs begin to quiver.

He was right. It does hurt. It hurts, burns, and aches so much that tears spring into my eyes.

“You are doing so well.” He kisses my forehead. My cheeks. “Breathe. There is no rush. I love you, Kerris.”

I smile against his bobbing throat, the backs of my eyes stinging. Overwhelmed . Just as he said. By my love for this man. By his love for me.

Calloused hands roam over my bare chest, sampling, seducing. Giving me time to adjust to his size.

“Move down,” I whisper.

He drops his hips, positioning himself lower against me. “There?”

“Lower.”

This time, when he moves, I feel my body start to relax. “Yes. Right there. Try now.”

When he eases forward, he slips deeper and deeper , until our bodies are flush, the dusting of dark hair covering his muscular thighs tickling against the backs of mine. His ragged breaths feather against my temple, and his arms start to shake where they hold his weight.

“Ever?”

“Hmmm?”

“I think you’re meant to move.”

“I know.”

“Are you all right? You sound as if you’re in pain.”

“Kerris?”

“Yes?”

“If I move right now, I’m going to end up fucking you straight through this wall.”

A smile curves my lips. “You say that like it’s a problem.” I love that he’s on the verge of losing control. It makes me feel powerful. Invincible.

His pained wince only makes my smile grow. “I promised to be gentle.”

“And I told you I could take it.”

He scowls down at me, and I smile even wider. His scowl deepens, and I laugh.

He pulls out a fraction, then drives deeper.

I gasp and then hold on for dear life as he bucks his hips harder, thrusting deeper and deeper. So deep, I feel as if I’m being split in two. My heels dig into his backside as the whole cart starts to rock, and if there were a headboard, I’ve no doubt it’d rattling the whole forest awake.

Together, we find a frantic rhythm, becoming one body. One pounding heart. One bleeding soul. I cling to him just as he clings to me, riding a tidal wave of pleasure as it hurtles for shore. Cresting. Crashing. Falling into nothing.

Into each other.

Ever grips my thighs as he bucks, a lustful frenzy overtaking us both. When my body finally gives out, he withdraws with a curse, grips himself in his fist, and spills onto my stomach.

That was…

Heavens, it was unexpected. I anticipated my first time being awkward and painful, but right now I’m smiling so wide my face hurts and I’m so happy I could burst.

Specks of blood paint his hand and my thighs. Beautiful evidence of our joining.

From the bed, Ever reaches into one of the kitchen drawers, withdrawing a cloth to clean me off before falling down beside me.

With an unsteady finger, he traces one of the marks he left on my skin. “Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined that you would ever want to be mine.”

I melt deeper into his embrace, relaxing against him, content to stay in this spot for the rest of my days.

“I should have sent you back home,” he whispers even as he draws me closer, tucking my head between his collarbone and jaw.

A contented sigh falls from my lips. “You’re my home now, Ever.”